So without hard empirical evidence, it is a no brainer, if you only want to race and never cruise or sleep on board, go Far East 23. The Melges 24 is a 24’ multiple crew monohull sailboat designed by John Reichel and Jim Pugh.She was built by Melges (United States) and made of sandwich foam / fiberglass / polyester. LS So don't buy one. The Melges 24, by contrast, gets on the plane very quickly and will stay there provided the crew weight is positioned responsively. On working sail areas you get: Far East 23: 10.24 knots, Seascape 24: 9.88 knots and Melges 24: 9.28 knots. Just because it has a J on the side, the mindless masses are creaming all over this thing. Racing is over on the J70 and Melges 24 course for the 2020 Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta. Thoughts? The Melges 24 belongs to the ISAF class. Ultimately, the major appeal of the boat is that the fleets at major U.S. regattas have been huge - nearly 80 boats at Charleston Race Week this year (going on as I type), with pretty decent quality, including Category 3 professionals. The production started in 1993 with about 850 hulls completed. It is exactly as you described, a somewhat powered down Melges 24. Eight of the 21 J/70s participating are within 9 points after first three races held yesterday at the 2020 Bacardi Invitational Winter Series Event 1 on Biscayne Bay with the team of John Brim, Palm Beach, FL, as leaders ahead of Ryan McKillen, New York, NY, and John Heaton, Wilmette, IL. J/70, Melges 24 – Miami Winter Series – Act 2 – Miami FL, USA – Day 2 newsposter January 26, 2020 Finishing 2/1/1, Oivind Lorentzen , Greenwich, CT, USA, (tactics Lucas Calabrese ARG) is the clear leader in the J/70s ahead of Pamela Rose , Coconut Grove, FL, USA, and Joel Running , Excelsior, MN, USA, on the ranks 2 and 3. I'm not understanding the bit about why you would not just get a J70. You certainly wouldnt want to power it up for short handed sailing and wed night beer can racing. 25 teams from 3 nations participate. I see that some events are combined. Is it me or does the J70 seem, just perhaps, a tad over-rated? At 2500 lbs sailing weight, the boat hardly planes in 20+ knots of true wind. The sailors on this races should have a pretty good idéa which boat is the fastest one. I ask because I try to fit the boats in to our local time on time handicap. It is a dog. —– Similarily close are the top 6 among the 19 Melges 24 teams with Bruce Ayres,.. If you want a more allround boat, go Seascape 24. Thank you PRO Bruce Harper, Timer Jill Smoak, and Signal Boat Dolphin owner David Bianchi. J70: Are you sick of hearing how great it is? Top speeds without kites would be double these.